alaska vs shopinas

Alaska Milk used its height and heft advantage to neutralize Shopinas.com’s speed and sweet-shooting
and eke out an 86-80 victory for their first back-to-back wins in the PBA Philippine Cup at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum.

The bullish duo of Sonny Thoss and Jay-R Reyes asserted their inside might and conspired for 28
points, 25 rebounds, nine assists and seven blocks in helping the Aces nail their second victory in
a row and third overall in 10 outings.

It also sent Alaska from ninth to a tie at eighth place alongside idle Powerade, a team it
outgunned, 121-111, last Friday, for the last playoff spot with four games remaining on its
schedule.

“This is the first back-to-back wins this conference and I have to give credit to them. They
(Clickers) played small because they know they couldn’t match in size,” said Alaska coach Joel
Banal.

“Our big guys though gave them problems in the post that they had to focus a little bit on defense
that somehow took off their minds on what they’re trying to do offensively, which is run and shoot,”
he added.

RJ Jazul, a former Smart-Gilas player, was blowtorching the Aces all game long as he exploded with a
career-high 24 points he laced with six three-pointers while Jojo Duncil got the rest of the job
done with 13 points, six rebounds and a personal-high eight assists.

But the Clickers just didn’t have enough firepower and solid interior defense to stop the taller and
bigger Aces in falling to their 11th straight loss in as many outings that tied the third all-time
longest losing skid in a conference alongside Welcoat, which had the ignominy of doing that four
seasons ago.

The all-time longest losing streak in the league is 13 straight, which Great Taste recorded in the
1982 Reinforced Conference and Countryfair in the 1984 (2nd) All-Filipino Conference.

Eric Salamat, a rookie out of four-peat UAAP champion Ateneo, beat the buzzer with a layup in
transition to give Alaska a 71-58 advantage at the end of the third period.

It was Shopinas.com, however, that grabbed an 11-7 upperhand and initiative early before Cyrus
Baguio unloaded a 10-point barrage that saw Alaska commandeering control and a 19-18 lead at the end
of the opening quarter.

The Aces then made their move in the second period where they erected a 39-27 lead, the biggest in
the first half. But the Clickers honed their perimeter gun with Jazul exploding for three booming
triples to help his team close the gap at 40-45 at the end of the break.

Jazul wound up the highest scorer at the half with 14 points, four of which coming from beyond the
arc, to lead Shopinas.com while the high-flying Baguio had 12 points in the first two quarters to
pace Alaska. (JV)

The Aces will rely on rookie Mac Baracael to carry his team against the only team that has not registered any win, Shopinas.com Clickers. Will the Clickers steal a victory? Or will the Aces will carry their momentum and will past the Clickers.

2nd Game: B-Meg Llamados vs Ginebra Gin Kings

After the blockbuster trades, Rico Maierhofer will face his former team. Same goes to Yancy de Ocampo who will be a perfect blend for Tim Cone’s triangle offense. This is going to be an interesting matchup.

Alaska Milk may have found a new player that fits perfectly well to the power forward position —
Mac Baracael.

With Baracael playing the position to the hilt, the Aces totally outgunned the Powerade Tigers,
121-111, Friday at the Smart-Araneta Coliseum in one of the most high-scoring matches in the PBA
Philippine Cup.

The energetic Baracael, who also played the No. 4 post with former team Smart Gilas Pilipinas,
exploded with a career-best 22 points off the bench in an impressive six-of-10 shooting from the
field and nine-of-11 from the free throw line that went with six rebounds, two assists and some
solid defense.

Alaska hopes to use Baracael and the momentum it got from its recent triumph when it clashes with
Shopinas.com in their game set at 3:15 p.m. on Sunday also at the Big Dome.

“Mac Baracael played his best game in the PBA, he really plays well in the power forward position,
that’s his natural position actually,” said Alaska head coach Joel Banal minutes after posting their
second win in nine outings.

Baracael’s superb effort rubbed off to his teammates particularly the pair of LA Tenorio and Tony
dela Cruz.

Tenorio, playing with a plaster on his chin, went alive in the fourth quarter where he poured in 13
of his 23 points there while Dela Cruz had 23 points, his best performance in the last four seasons.

The victory kept the Aces’ hopes of clinching the eighth and final playoff spot alive as they
improved to 2-7 (win-loss), just half game behind the Tigers, who are precariously holding on to the
No. 8 position with a 3-7 record.

Alaska will be playing a Shopinas.com team though that is itching badly for a first victory after
dropping its first 10 games, the worst start in a season in the league in a long while.

And Banal knows they would need to sustain the same kind of form and approach for them to beat the
Franz Pumaren-mentored Clickers.

“If we could play the same way we did against Powerade, we’ll have a chance of beating Shopinas,”
said Banal, who steered Talk ‘N Text to the 2003 PBA All-Filipino Cup title (JV)